Improvement in repeating fire-arms



4 Sh t-Sh t1. L. wHEELocK. ees ee Repeating Fire Arm.

Patented Jan. I 31, 1871.

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4 Sheets-*Sheet 2. L. WHEELOCK.

Repeating Fire Arm.

Patented Jan. 31, 1871.

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L. WHEELOCK Repeating F ire Arm.

' Patented' Jan. Y31, 1871.

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4 l L. VWHEELOWi Sheets Sheet 4 Repeating Fire Arm.

No. 111,500. I f Patented Ian. 31, 1871.

Jiyj/ al a /I Y Jgssgersglg UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

LUKE WHEELOCK, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WINCHESTERREPEATING ARMS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE,

IMPROVEMENT IN REPEATING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 11,500, dated January251, 1871.

To all whom it 'may concern Be it known that I, LUKE WHEELocK, of NewHaven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new Improvement in Repeating Fire-Arms; and I do herebydeclare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawingconstitutes part of this specification, and represents, in-

Figure l, a side View; Fig. 2, a top View; Fig. 3, a side view, thestock removed; Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectional View; Fig. 5, atransverse section on line x x,- Figs. 6 to 13. inclusive, detachedviews to illustrate the operation.

This invention relates to an improvement in the arm known as theWinchester repeating Iire-arm-that is to say, an arm provided with amagazine to supply the charges to a mechanism which translates thecharges from the magazine to the barrel for discharge; and the inventionconsists in the peculiar mechanism for thus transferring the charge, asmore fully hereafter described.

A is the frame, within which the operative mechanism is arranged, and towhich said frame the barrel B is secured by being fitted and screwedinto the forward end of the frame, as seen in Fig. 4.

The frame, extending back, is formed into a tang, A1, upon the upperside, by which it is secured to the stock C, and also extending downthrough the frame, forming a plate, A2, upon the under side of theframe.

D is the carrier-block, (shown in section, Fig. 10,) arranged in achamber in thet'rame, to play freely up and down from the position inFig. 4 to that denoted in dotted lines in same figure, in like manner asin the Winchester arm before referred to, to translate the cartridgesfrom the magazine, which opens through the frame at D', to a position tobe inserted into the barrel.

E is the breech -pin, arranged longitudinally in the frame, and in linewith the axis of the barrel B, and extends back to the hammer F, pivotedin the frame at f.

Through the breech-pin, as shown in the longitudinal section of the pinin Fig. 11, a firing-spindle, E', extends the entire length, with aspring arranged thereon, the tendency of which is to force the spindleto the rear.

The forwardend of the said pin is constructed to strike the cartridge ata point to cause the explosion when the hammer is relieved fromfull-cock to iiy back and strike the rear end of the spindle. Thisarrangement, as also that of the trigger, issubsta-ntially the same asin the said Winchester repeating-arm.

G is the linger-lever and trigger-guard, by means of which power iscommunicated to operate the mechanism of the arm. This lever is pivotedupon afulcrum at a point, g, in the frame, upon which the lever may beturned down and forward to the position denoted in broken lines, Fig. 4,and returned, which movement causes the operation of the mechanism ofthearm.

The upper end, G', of the lever G extends up into the frame, and isshown in longitudinal sections, Figs. 6, 7, and 8.

The lever G is connected to thebreech-pin E by arms h h, one upon eitherside, extending from the fulcrum of the lever up to connecting-rods i,pivoted to the ends of the arms h and to the piston-rod, as seen in Fig.4.

A shoulder on the part G of the finger-1ever bears against the rear edgeof the arms h, to force the breech-pin forward, as denoted in Fig. 4,which is the position for firing.

To lock the breech-pin in lthis position to resist the recoil, avertical bolt,'H, is arranged in the frame to move up and down, and whenup sits behind a shoulder, e, on the breechpim-and thus securely holdsthe breech-pin forward.

To operate the bolt H, a cam, H1, is formed on the surface of 'the upperend, G', of the lever; and on the bolt H a lever, H2, is hung, the lowerend or nose ofwhich, when the bolt is thrown up, falls below the cam Hland rests upon the lever, as shown at H3, Fig. 6 5

' with two mortises.

but when the lever is turned downward the cam I-Il draws down the boltHuntil it strikes the frame, as denoted in broken lines, Figs. 3 and 4.At that point the cam throws out the lever H2, as denoted in Fig. 7, andfrees the bolt from the action of the lever, and also frees thebreech-pin from the locking-bolt. As this ,operation must be performedbefore the breech-pin can be moved, it follows that the connectionbetween the pin and the lever must remain stationary w-hile the bolt isbeing unlocked. To do this I form a cylinder, I, set within the lever G,and which forms a bearing foil the said lever to turn upon, the saidcylinder being held in position by a setscrew, n, which extends throughinto the said cylinder', and this cylinder is provided (Denoied in solidblack, Fig. 9.)

In the upper arm of the lever G are arranged two slides, r s, to movefreely up and down and rest upon a spring, S. Each of these slides -isprovided, respectively, with projections l 2, which pass through amortise in the lever, so as to come in contact with the surface of thecylinder I.

Between the upper ends of the two arms h a bar, h', extends across overthe upper end of the slides r s. The upper ends of the said slides areformed of I[he arc of a circle, the center of which is the pivot of thelever G; but at the meeting-points of the upper end of the said slidesthey are rounded off or inclined, so as to form a notch between the two,as seen in Fig. 7.

In the position denoted in Fig. 6 the lever G is in such position thatthe projection l of the slide r will pass into one of the mortises onthe cylinder, as'dcnoted in section in Fig. 12, the arms h setting backagainst the shoulder on the upper part of the lever. In this positionthe lever can be turned freely without effect upon the arms h until thelever has been thrown so far down that the bar comes in contactwith theforward slide, s, and when arrivedat this point the locking device isfreed from the action of the lever, and the continued movement of thelever will then drawback the breech-pin to the position denoted inbroken lines, Fig. 4. ln this movement the hammer is thrown back tofull-cock, as denoted in Fig. 4, where it is held by the trigger F.Arriving' at this position, it is now necessary to throw up thecarrier-block to transfer the cartridge which has been supplied theretofrom themagazine. To do this a lever, L, is hung in the frame upon thesame center as the lever G, with a projection, l, extending dow-nforward ofthe barrel.

W hen the lever G has arrived at the position last described, ashoulder,m, on the lever strikes the said projection and throws np the lever L tothe position denoted in broken lines Fig. 4, and the said lever, beingconnected or working in a seat in the carrier D,

throws the carrier up also to the position denoted in broken lines,which presents the cartridge which has passed from themagazine into thecarrier in line with the barrel. While this movement of thecarrier-block is heilig made the breech-pin stands still; and to allowof this still position of the breechpin when the pin has arrived at thepoint of its extreme movement, the lever G has turned so far upon thecylinder that one of the mortises. in :the cylinder lies directly belowthe projection l of the slide s. Hence the slide s is passed down untilthe bar h passes thereover tothe position seen in Fig. 8. Returning thelever, the cylinder remains, the arms h pass back to the positiondenoted in Fig. 7, where they are held until thelever Gis so far raisedas to throw thepiston through the carrier-block and-hard against thecartridge which it has carried into the barrel. At that time the slide rcomes over its mortise in the cylinder I and drops therein, as denotedin Fig. 6; then, as the lever advances, passes back to the position alsodenoted in Fig. 6, during the last portion of which movement thebreechpin is locked, as before described, and the lever L, with theblock D, drawn down by a second shoulder, m', of the lever G strikingagainst a corresponding` point on the lever L. The arm is now inposition for firing, which is performed by releasing the hammer in theusual manner, the hammer striking the ringspindle, which explodes thecartridge.

To retract the exploded shell, (or cartridge, if required,) a hook, a,is arranged upon the upper side of the breech-pin to catch onto theflange of the cartridge. breech-pin is withdrawn, as before described,the cartridge is withdrawn with Vit over the carrier, so that vwhen thecarrier isl raised it will throw the shell upward; and to give to thecarrier a quick movement to eject the shell entirely from the arm, aspring, d, is arranged, bearing upon the lever L, as seen in Fig. 13,which, as the lever L rises, passes over and down into a notch n thesaid lever, tending at the last portion of its stroke to give a quickmovement to the lever and the carrier to which it is attached, which issufcient to throw the shell from the arm. f

I claim as my inventionl. The combination of the breech-pin E and leverG, constructed with the shouldered portion G', the arm or arms h, andconnectingrods t', for the operation of the breech-pin, substantially asset forth.

2. In combination with the breech-pin E, constructed with the shouldere, the lever G, provided with the cam Hl and the lock-bolt H, operatingto secure the breech-pin, substantially in the manner set forth. 3. Incombination with the cylinder I, arranged upon or so as to form thebearing of the lever G, the slide r', arranged upon the said lever G,and the arm or arms h, provided Therefore, when the with the bar h', alooking device substantially with the bar h', the lever L, andearrierblook such as described, and arranged to operate D, arranged tooperate the said lever L durduring the passage of the said bar h overthe ing the passage of the said bar l1. over the said slide r. saidslide s, substantially as set forth.

4. `In combination with the cylinder I, ar- LUKE WHEELOCK. ranged uponor so as to form the bearing of Witnesses: the lever G, the slide s,arranged upon the A. J. TIBBITS,

said lever Gr, and the arm or arms h, provided J. H. SHUMWAY.

